Beam Therapeutics has a $180M IPO

Cambridge CRISPRing outfit Beam Therapeutics just went public, hauling in a rather hefty sum. Starting Monday, it’ll trade under the ticker symbol BEAM.

The company, which was founded in 2017, uses the relatively new technique (isn’t this all quite new?) of base editing. Unlike the standard CRISPR analogy of scissors, base editing works more like a pencil, the company says — erasing and rewriting one letter in the gene.

Beam said that if things go smoothly, it could work with the FDA as early as next year to kick off clinical trials.